Early Dinner May Lower the Risk of Breast Cancer – Some Facts

A recent study conducted in Barcelona, at the acclaimed Spanish Institute for Global Health, discovered that people who had an early dinner benefitted from a twenty-percent decrease in cancer risk. Breast and prostate cancer risk, to be more precise. These variants of the disease, based on current estimates, claim the greatest number of mortalities every year in both women and men, respectively.

Expanding upon the results of the study, many researchers have begun to tout the benefits of following the ‘eating dinner at least 2 hours before bedtime’ rule. And as can be expected, a great number of people have begun to follow through on this advice in their daily living.

As a sufferer of breast cancer, I too have benefitted from this prescription – which I first came to know about through my Optimum internet connection.

I first got diagnosed with 2nd stage breast cancer at the still-considered-youthful (well at least in some quarters!) age of 42.

Ever since my preteen years, I had been a carefree girl; and an overly spoiled brat at that. Being an only child, my parents constantly showered me with all the culinary and material delights that took my fancy. I binged on sweet donuts and milkshakes from the town café every evening and learned to apply expensive makeup to perfection by age 15. At 18, it wasn’t long before I was nominated – based upon popular approval – as my high school’s homecoming queen.

I dated all the jocks from the football team but ended up settling on a ‘proverbial nerd’ from the back benches. My husband of now twenty-odd years, who has stuck with me through the thick & thin of my battle with cancer. The person who is a large part of the reason why I have chosen to carry on with my struggle.

It all started when I felt a discolored lump forming in my left breast. Being the figure-conscious diva that I was, I was quick to book an appointment with our family oncologist. The said physician had previously catered to both my mother and grandmother’s health concerns. Both had been ravaged by breast cancer throughout their late adulthoods, with my mother dying (very sadly) only two months after her initial mammography report came in. And so because of this genetic linkage, I had always known that I was also susceptible to the risk of acquiring the condition.

The appearance of this new, tumorous mass on my body, in so doing, didn’t, therefore, come as much of a shock for me. Instinctively, I had always known that it was simply biding its time – waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Dealing with the Relapse

Long-story-short, I got lucky.

Because my particular brand of breast cancer was still in its infancy.

And with only one month in with my aggressive chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions, I was given the clean chit. But only two months later, the tumor relapsed. This time, the doctors told me that my high-risk lifestyle was to blame. Being a regular smoker and late-night cocktail drinker, I wasn’t really giving my body’s immune system the opportunity to swing back at cancer on its own. While I was getting treatment for this second encounter with breast cancer, I was told to conduct some health-based research on my own. In a carefully veiled tone, my oncologist even told me to refer to some holistic health advice off the internet to improve my odds of beating the disease.

The Uncovered Gems of Research

Today, I’m glad that he did, because as I now know from my own experience, pharmaceutical treatment can only get you so far in the way of bringing about a complete cure. Your psychological makeup (and how tough you make it through stress-alleviating techniques like meditation and deep breathing) counts for a lot. So does your nutrition, along with what you choose to put into your body.

Sugar, as probably every cancer patient now knows (and should know) is potentially the worst kind of fuel you can consume during your vulnerable periods. Cancer cells multiply aggressively when they come in contact with free glucose – deeming it, like all of our body’s normal cells, to be the most desirable form of ready sustenance available for their growth.

I found that by carefully restricting the amount of sugar (simple carbohydrates) in my diet, I could greatly increase the efficacy of my treatment regimens. And my clinical results largely ran in line with this assessment, as well as my state of gradual remission which followed from this dietary intervention.

On the Importance of Staying True to the Body’s Circadian Rhythm

Another important thing that I discovered, based mostly on the Barcelona study results alluded to above, was that meal-timing mattered greatly where recovery from breast cancer was concerned.

Biologically-speaking, this has much to do with how our body’s circadian rhythm functions.

Evolved from the daily sun (day & night) cycle, our circadian rhythm is designed to modify the working of our body’s internal systems based on sunlight. Day-specific functions, like the minute secretions of the hormones cortisol and adrenaline, correspond with an increase in ambient (incident) sunlight. Similarly, sleep-related substances like melatonin and progesterone, are released through a direct correlation with darkness.

Several research studies have found that by pursuing activities that disturb this innate bodily cycle, human beings expose themselves to a higher attainment-risk of several disease conditions. Cancer and a range of heart diseases are two notable examples of the ailments that commonly result in this way. People who regularly engage in night-time work shifts have a greater statistical chance of contracting cancer and many other illnesses as compared to individuals who follow the standard ‘daytime’ working schedule.

Recently, I was in attendance at an Optimum Internet Customer Service (1-855-840-0084) convention, where the hosts had invited a number of healthcare professionals for a Q&A seminar. Being the health enthusiast that I am, I was pleased to note that they took the rising, modern-day, incidence rate of cancer greatly under consideration. And not only that, they also discussed a number of clinical studies at length (including the one mentioned in this blog) that put the case for proper meal-timing more openly before the attendees.

Author Bio:

Hi, I’m a freelance writer with a penchant for all things health and wellness. I have been writing for quite a few years on health websites using my trusty Optimum internet. My aim is to create informative content that can help people deal with health problems and lead a better life.

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